Data / Rankings / Population / Cities in Kansas

Cities in Kansas by population

Wichita, KS had the highest population of 38 cities in 2021, at 396,834. Bel Aire, KS had the lowest, at 8,453. The median was 22,731 and the figure for Kansas was 2.94 million. Source: the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Highest396,834Wichita, KS
Lowest8,453Bel Aire, KS
Median22,73138 cities
Kansas2,938,966History

All cities, 2021

Wichita, KS: 396,834 personsWichita, KS396,834Overland Park, KS: 199,098 personsOverland Park, KS199,098Kansas City, KS: 154,842 personsKansas City, KS154,842Olathe, KS: 142,981 personsOlathe, KS142,981Topeka, KS: 126,179 personsTopeka, KS126,179Lawrence, KS: 95,417 personsLawrence, KS95,417Shawnee, KS: 67,486 personsShawnee, KS67,486Lenexa, KS: 58,334 personsLenexa, KS58,334Manhattan, KS: 54,439 personsManhattan, KS54,439Salina, KS: 46,462 personsSalina, KS46,462Hutchinson, KS: 39,718 personsHutchinson, KS39,718Leavenworth, KS: 37,200 personsLeavenworth, KS37,200Leawood, KS: 33,693 personsLeawood, KS33,693Garden City, KS: 27,863 personsGarden City, KS27,863Dodge City, KS: 27,701 personsDodge City, KS27,701Derby, KS: 25,783 personsDerby, KS25,783Emporia, KS: 24,031 personsEmporia, KS24,031Gardner, KS: 23,940 personsGardner, KS23,940Prairie Village, KS: 22,897 personsPrairie Village, KS22,897Junction City, KS: 22,564 personsJunction City, KS22,564Hays, KS: 21,087 personsHays, KS21,087Pittsburg, KS: 20,624 personsPittsburg, KS20,624Liberal, KS: 19,664 personsLiberal, KS19,664Newton, KS: 18,442 personsNewton, KS18,442Andover, KS: 15,393 personsAndover, KS15,393Great Bend, KS: 14,585 personsGreat Bend, KS14,585McPherson, KS: 13,974 personsMcPherson, KS13,974El Dorado, KS: 12,798 personsEl Dorado, KS12,798Ottawa, KS: 12,637 personsOttawa, KS12,637Arkansas City, KS: 11,976 personsArkansas City, KS11,976Winfield, KS: 11,784 personsWinfield, KS11,784Haysville, KS: 11,276 personsHaysville, KS11,276Lansing, KS: 11,215 personsLansing, KS11,215Merriam, KS: 10,994 personsMerriam, KS10,994Atchison, KS: 10,812 personsAtchison, KS10,812Mission, KS: 9,860 personsMission, KS9,860Spring Hill, KS: 8,631 personsSpring Hill, KS8,631Bel Aire, KS: 8,453 personsBel Aire, KS8,453Wichita, KS: 396,834 personsWichita, KS396,834Overland Park, KS: 199,098 personsOverland Park, KS199,098Kansas City, KS: 154,842 personsKansas City, KS154,842Olathe, KS: 142,981 personsOlathe, KS142,981Topeka, KS: 126,179 personsTopeka, KS126,179Lawrence, KS: 95,417 personsLawrence, KS95,417Shawnee, KS: 67,486 personsShawnee, KS67,486Lenexa, KS: 58,334 personsLenexa, KS58,334Manhattan, KS: 54,439 personsManhattan, KS54,439Salina, KS: 46,462 personsSalina, KS46,462Hutchinson, KS: 39,718 personsHutchinson, KS39,718Leavenworth, KS: 37,200 personsLeavenworth, KS37,200Leawood, KS: 33,693 personsLeawood, KS33,693Garden City, KS: 27,863 personsGarden City, KS27,863Dodge City, KS: 27,701 personsDodge City, KS27,701Derby, KS: 25,783 personsDerby, KS25,783Emporia, KS: 24,031 personsEmporia, KS24,031Gardner, KS: 23,940 personsGardner, KS23,940Prairie Village, KS: 22,897 personsPrairie Village, KS22,897Junction City, KS: 22,564 personsJunction City, KS22,564Hays, KS: 21,087 personsHays, KS21,087Pittsburg, KS: 20,624 personsPittsburg, KS20,624Liberal, KS: 19,664 personsLiberal, KS19,664Newton, KS: 18,442 personsNewton, KS18,442Andover, KS: 15,393 personsAndover, KS15,393Great Bend, KS: 14,585 personsGreat Bend, KS14,585McPherson, KS: 13,974 personsMcPherson, KS13,974El Dorado, KS: 12,798 personsEl Dorado, KS12,798Ottawa, KS: 12,637 personsOttawa, KS12,637Arkansas City, KS: 11,976 personsArkansas City, KS11,976Winfield, KS: 11,784 personsWinfield, KS11,784Haysville, KS: 11,276 personsHaysville, KS11,276Lansing, KS: 11,215 personsLansing, KS11,215Merriam, KS: 10,994 personsMerriam, KS10,994Atchison, KS: 10,812 personsAtchison, KS10,812Mission, KS: 9,860 personsMission, KS9,860Spring Hill, KS: 8,631 personsSpring Hill, KS8,631Bel Aire, KS: 8,453 personsBel Aire, KS8,453
persons. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Wichita, KS396,834-0.3%
2Overland Park, KS199,098+0.6%
3Kansas City, KS154,842-0.9%
4Olathe, KS142,981+1%
5Topeka, KS126,179-0.2%
6Lawrence, KS95,417+0.5%
7Shawnee, KS67,4860%
8Lenexa, KS58,334+1.4%
9Manhattan, KS54,439+0.5%
10Salina, KS46,462-0.8%
11Hutchinson, KS39,718-0.7%
12Leavenworth, KS37,200-0.3%
13Leawood, KS33,693-0.5%
14Garden City, KS27,863-0.6%
15Dodge City, KS27,701-0.1%
16Derby, KS25,783+0.3%
17Emporia, KS24,031-0.3%
18Gardner, KS23,940+2.2%
19Prairie Village, KS22,897-0.3%
20Junction City, KS22,564-1.7%
21Hays, KS21,087-0.3%
22Pittsburg, KS20,624-0.1%
23Liberal, KS19,664-0.4%
24Newton, KS18,442-0.7%
25Andover, KS15,393+2.8%
26Great Bend, KS14,585-0.7%
27McPherson, KS13,974-0.7%
28El Dorado, KS12,798+0.3%
29Ottawa, KS12,6370%
30Arkansas City, KS11,976+0.1%
31Winfield, KS11,784+0.1%
32Haysville, KS11,2760%
33Lansing, KS11,215-0.2%
34Merriam, KS10,994-0.9%
35Atchison, KS10,812-0.5%
36Mission, KS9,860-0.9%
37Spring Hill, KS8,631+5.4%
38Bel Aire, KS8,453+1.7%

Other periods

About this ranking

Resident population.

More on how it is measured
  • Spain and the EU: 1 January, with Spanish figures from the official municipal register (Padrón).
  • Norway: Statistics Norway, 1 January.
  • Iceland and its municipalities: Statistics Iceland, 1 January.
  • United States: Census Bureau population estimates for 1 July.
  • United Kingdom regions and local authorities: Office for National Statistics estimates for 30 June.
  • Other countries and the World: World Bank mid-year estimates, which count all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.
  • UN World Population Prospects estimates for 1 July cover the years before 1960 and the areas the World Bank does not publish, such as Taiwan.

The World Bank series exists for every country, so use it (through compare) to rank countries on one basis.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Census Bureau. (2026). Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals) (Cities in Kansas by population, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/

MLA 9

Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Kansas by population, 2021. U.S. Census Bureau, 14 May 2026, https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/kansas-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Census Bureau. 2026. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Cities in Kansas by population, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/kansas-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Census Bureau (2026) Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals), Cities in Kansas by population, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/kansas-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{census_cities_in_kansas_by_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Census Bureau}},
  title = {{Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Kansas by population, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/kansas-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Census Bureau
TI  - Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals): Cities in Kansas by population, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/14
PB  - U.S. Census Bureau
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/kansas-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/population/kansas-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Census Bureau. Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/popest/datasets/2020-2025/. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest population?

Wichita, KS, with 396,834 in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Which city has the lowest population?

Bel Aire, KS, with 8,453 in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Census Bureau, Annual estimates of the resident population for incorporated places, 1 July (Population Estimates Program, subcounty totals). Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Population: other rankings

Cities in Kansas: more rankings